Biden pitches economic policy

5:46 pm

Thu January 26, 2012

White House Brings Manufacturing Pitch to NH

The White House is on the road to win public support for its economic policies. President Obama was in Iowa and Arizona yesterday. Today, Vice President Biden visited a manufacturing plant in Rochester. The vice president described what the administration means when it says it wants to give everyone a fair shot at the American dream.

Vice President Biden spoke at Albany Engineered Composites, a company that has been expanding on the Seacoast. That trend fit well with one of Biden’s roles, that of cheer leader for the productivity of American workers.

“We start off as a nation better positioned than any the world to be the dominant economic force in the 21st century as we were in the 20th.”

Biden invited his audience, made up partly of company employees and local college and high school students, to get familiar with a new word, insourcing -- the flow of jobs from overseas to America. He said this is an area where government can play a key role.

“Government doesn’t produce jobs. It can produce opportunities. We can incentivize companies to insource more rapidly by doing some basic things.”

The vice president listed two items. One would be to change tax law to reward companies that shift operations from foreign facilities to domestic factories. The other-- maintain funding for education programs that directly link classes at community colleges and universities to advance manufacturing jobs. That’s exactly what’s been taking place between Albany Engineered Composites and Great Bay Community College and UNH.

Biden’s appearance is part of the Obama reelection effort and he was happy to draw contrasts with GOP policies.

“The logic of the Republican argument about how maintain a middle class and generate economic growth has been shown to be wrong. It doesn’t work the way they want to do it. Now it is up for the public to decide if the logic of what we’re suggesting just makes common sense.”

After the speech, a machine operator at the firm, Dean Austin, said he liked what he heard. Austin would love to see jobs return from overseas. But, it will take more than a speech to convince him.

“Time will tell. See how many of them will just come back. Time will tell.”

The vice president spoke of voters assessing the administration’s logic, but what would be most persuasive are actual results.